Mustangs Pick Up 11 Top Finishes, But Houston Wins the Dual

The Mustangs started and finished the event with a pair of relay victories as senior Monika Babok and juniors Nicole Parmenter, Rachel Nicol and Nathalie Lindborg clocked in at 1:45.44 in the 200-yard medley relay, and Babok, Lindborg, senior Nina Rangelova and junior Isabella Arcila touched the wall in a time of 1:34.84 in the 200-yard freestyle relay. Current photo via Tim Binning/TheSwimPictures.com

With wins in the 100- and 200-yard breaststroke events, Nicol continued to prove why she is a standout performer in the event with finishes of 1:04.98 and 2:19.63. Her time in the 200 was nearly nine seconds faster than her closest competitor. Nicol also finished second in the 200-yard IM in a time of 2:09.36.

Finishing just ahead of Nicol in the 200-IM was senior Deanna Matthews (2:07.25). The Edmonton, Alberta, native also finished the 200-yard backstroke in 2:02.25 for the win and placed third in the 100-back. Just behind Matthews in the 200-back was Arcila, who was second in a time of 2:02.46. Arcila also won the 100-yard backstroke for the second-straight day, after setting the pool record in the Mustangs’ meet at Rice on Friday.

In addition to their contributions in the relays, Nathalie Lindborg and Rangelova also combined for four first place finishes. Lindborg had a dominant individual performance winning the 50- and 100-yard freestyle events in 23.95 and 51.40, respectively, while Rangelova won the 200-yard freestyle (1:50.38) and 500-yard freestyle (4:59.16).

Other notable performances were turned in by Babok, who placed third in the 100-yard butterfly (58.88) in which the top three spots were separated by less than a second, and freshman Ursa Bezan, who was third in the 200-yard freestyle (1:54.19).

The Mustangs are back in action Nov. 21-23 as they take to the pool at the Texas A&M Invite in College Station, Texas. Check SMUMustangs.com for ways to follow the event.